With virtually all serious injuries, there is a danger that an injured person will suffer from shock. To minimize the effect of shock, the injured person should be kept comfortable. This requires that the person be sheltered from the elements, such as wind, rain, excessive heat or excessive cold.
Patient transport bags are being used to shelter injured persons from the elements. An example of a patient transport bag is U.S. Pat. No. 5,386,604 which was issued to Ricketts in 1995. The Ricketts reference discloses a patient transport bag which comes in two separate halves that can be used as blankets. The two halves are capable of being joined together to form an enclosure to protect an injured person from the elements.
As patient transport bags become more widely used various shortcomings are being discovered. One example of such a shortcoming relates to the time it takes to enclose an injured person within the confines of the patient transport bag. In a patient transport situation time can mean the difference between life and death for the injured person.